Boys arrested for revenge attack on young woman who rejected them - as disturbing Snapchat revealed

By Ishita Srivastava For Dailymail.Com 16:08 05 Jul 2024, updated 22:26 05 Jul 2024

An Arizona barn burned to the ground after two teenage boys allegedly threw firecrackers into the shed as revenge for being rejected by the owner's daughter. 

Horrifying video footage shows the moment Gilbert Barn becomes engulfed in a hot blaze while around 10 children were inside having a party. No injuries have been reported. 

The inferno was sparked by two boys who had allegedly been harassing victim Lexi Jones and after the attack reportedly sent her a Snapchat message flipping her off. 

Mom Jeni Jones, who owns the barn, told Fox10: 'It's such a traumatic thing when it's happening. I was calling 911 trying to get everyone away from here.'

'Two of the vehicles we were able to move that were right here that we saved. But you know, you can see everything else is a total loss.'

She later told officials that Lexi and her friend, Naia Morris were inside the barn when Ring camera video showed a group of boys throwing fireworks from the access road. 

While the first firework alerted everyone, it was the second one that caused the fire. 

Morris said: 'It was almost like someone was pushing on the garage, but it was like a bright light coming from under, and it just pushed out and a bunch of flames at the top, like right corner of the barn and then it just started spreading all over.' 

'It was like right away, the garage door went like that and you could hear it building up. You hear it pop and everything went in flames,' Lexi added. 

Lexi had been hanging out with her friends on the second floor of the structure when the incident happened, according to ABC15.

She further told the channel that the boys had been friends with Lexi and spent time with the family on boating excursions and in the garage. 

According to the mother, one of the teenage boys had been harassing Lexi and saying inappropriate things. 

Jeni said: 'I told her, just block him, don't have anything to do with him. And then this happened.

'What’s most upsetting is just the malicious intent. Like they knowingly shot a firework towards a building that had kids in it. 

'Honestly, I can’t even process that. I just can’t even think about that, because like I get sick to my stomach.'

After the barn had been set on fire, Jones said one of the boys sent her daughter a Snapchat message where he was flipping her off. 

Deputies from the Gilbert Police Department and fire crews responded to a 911 call from a neighborhood near Higley and Guadalupe roads. 

The teenagers have since been arrested and charged with arson and endangerment. Officials have not named the boys and only refer to them as 'juveniles'. 

The Jones family has also set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise money to repair the damage and recover from the devastating loss. 

The crowdfunding page has raised $1,000 out of its $15,000 goal as of now.